The Trickster (A Jonelle Sweet Mystery Book 3)

by R. Lanier Clemons

  Pale eyes glanced over to the far wall. “I don’t know.”

  Jonelle thought she did, but didn’t press the point. Hackett stood and Jonelle followed suit. “Thanks for talking to me, Rosemary. I appreciate your time.”

  “Time’s all I got, Miss.”

  Jonelle and the lawyer stood outside the visiting room door. She held out her hand and he shook it. “Thanks for allowing me to talk to her. I feel real sorry for her and her son.”

  “I know. She’s really a nice kid who got used by someone a helluva lot smarter than she. I don’t mean to talk ill of the dead, but maybe we’ve got a little karma thing going here.”

  “Maybe.”

  Jonelle waved goodbye and followed her escort down the hall. So far, no one was able to determine exactly why Susanna fled to Maryland, but her connection to the area was clear. One of the first things Jonelle would do when she got home was contact Barrington Kelly.

  As Jonelle headed down the highway toward the airport and the flight that would take her back to Baltimore, she wondered again about the real relationship between the sisters. After she talked to Kelly, she’d meet with Sophia and clear up a few things.

  Several hours later, an exhausted Jonelle let herself into her condo, glad for the quiet that greeted her. She took a quick shower and fell into bed. Before sleep overtook her, she wondered why it was no one asked why someone wanted Susanna dead.

  CHAPTER 19

  After a weekend at home spent digesting the information she’d learned in Michigan, Jonelle sat in her office on Monday morning and fired up her computer. Even though she’d gotten Barrington Kelly’s home address in Alexandria, Virginia, from Finkleberg, she wanted her first contact with Susanna’s ex to occur in his office. She didn’t have to search long before she found his practice on K Street in Northwest DC. That told her one important thing: the high profile and expensive area of the city indicated the good doctor had achieved some measure of success. She noted the telephone number and address and had picked up her office phone to place the call to set up a face-to-face when her cellphone chirped.

  The incoming text was from Burt. His “FYI” recorded what forensics found in the substance that coated Susanna’s face. Jonelle had assumed it was just regular store-bought makeup, but Burt’s text indicated something different. The ingredients he listed were: shortening, cornstarch, white flour and glycerin. Except for the glycerin, somebody could’ve been making a cake. Even with all the questions swirling through her head, Jonelle didn’t want to contact Burt now, so she texted, “jst rtrnd, bsy, cntct ltr”. First item on the agenda was Kelly. She dialed the number and waited.

  A bubbly voice on the other end announced, “Doctors Schein, Morrow and Kelly may I help you?”

  Jonelle remembered Sophia’s description of Kelly’s specialty and grinned to herself. She hadn’t thought through how to impress upon the receptionist her need to see Kelly without giving away the reason. The voice inquired, “Anyone there?” prompting Jonelle that since she figured Finkleberg would’ve given Kelly a “heads-up” anyway, she’d just announce who she was.

  “Yes. Hello. I’d like to speak to Dr. Kelly please.” After giving her name, but not the reason for her call, stating it was personal, Jonelle waited on hold. A few moments later, the voice came back on the line and stated Kelly wasn’t available at the moment. Jonelle left her name, office and cellphone numbers. Before she disconnected, Jonelle added an “in reference to” with just one word: Susanna. She noted the time and decided to give him until five o’clock tomorrow to return her call. Knowing it involved Susanna, Jonelle bet it wouldn’t take him that long.

  She’d no sooner noted her calendar to call Kelly on Tuesday when Rainey buzzed from the front to let her know Mrs. Reyes had stopped by to see if she had time to meet with her. “Of course,” Jonelle replied. “She knows the way, Rainey, so go ahead and send her back.” Sophia was next on her to do list. She wanted to give her client the details about the trip to Michigan. The unannounced visit saved her a phone call.

  Jonelle stood as Sophia entered and gestured to the guest chair. “I’m glad you stopped by. I was going to call and fill you in on my trip to the Upper Peninsula.” Something was different about Sophia and Jonelle couldn’t put her finger on what it was.

  “Hope you don’t mind my coming in without an appointment, but I was anxious to find out how it went,” Sophia said.

  Then she remembered what Sarah had told her. “How are you feeling? Your mother said when you called, you had a bad cold.”

  “Oh, that.” Sophia cleared her throat. “I think it was only a twenty-four hour bug.”

  Jonelle described her visit to Finkleberg’s office. “When did you know about the embezzlement charges against Susanna?”

  Sophia crossed and uncrossed her legs before responding. “I found out when the Oldenberry police contacted me to try and find out where she was.” Sophia failed to meet Jonelle’s eyes.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because I didn’t think the police contacting me had anything to do with how she ended up dead in Maryland.”

  Jonelle studied the woman sitting across from her and realized what the difference was in Sophia’s appearance. To Jonelle’s eye, it looked as though Sophia had more makeup on than before. While that wasn’t an issue, it reminded her of what Burt said about the paint on Susanna’s face.

  “Maybe. But since you hired me to find out about your sister, whatever you know or find out that pertains to her, you need to inform me. Okay?”

  Lines appeared through Sophia’s heavy makeup. “I’m not holding anything back.”

  “I’m not saying you are,” Jonelle said. Tension hung in the air like low hanging clouds preceding an approaching storm and Jonelle didn’t like the feeling. She took a deep breath and recited the shorthand version of her trip to Michigan. Her review of the interview with Sarah made Sophia wince, but she held her tongue. It wasn’t until Jonelle mentioned Rosemary that she got more of a reaction. Sophia’s eyes widened and she leaned forward, her face just inches from Jonelle’s.

  “What did she tell you about … my sister?”

  Jonelle leaned back to put more space between them. She told Sophia everything Rosemary said about the money and Susanna’s plan to send Rosemary the rest of her share. Jonelle studied the woman before her. Her client seemed more upset about Rosemary than the fact Jonelle still didn’t know what pulled Susanna to the streets of Maryland.

  “Have you ever met Rosemary?” Jonelle asked.

  Sophia paused. “I was living in Traverse City when Susanna got her promotion. She never mentioned her co-workers. Why should she?”

  Jonelle tried another tack. “Did you know of your sister’s plans in the embezzlement?”

  Sophia blanched. “Of course not. How could you—”

  “Don’t get upset,” Jonelle interrupted. “I had to ask. So, you’re saying you didn’t know anything about Susanna’s life in Oldenberry after you left, is that correct?”

  Sophia tightened her grip on her bag. This time, her eyes stared into Jonelle’s own, lips pressed in a tight line. Jonelle waited for the outburst.

  “I thought I hired you to find out why my sister ended up down here and her relationship to that … whatever. Seems like I’m wasting my money,” she said, voice tight.

  “I know why your sister left, and you’re right, I don’t know yet how she ended up here. The logical answer is Kelly so I’ve left a message and I plan to interview him on what, if anything, he knows. Whatever he tells me will dictate my next move.” Jonelle shrugged. “But, if you’d rather I not pursue this any further, fine. I’ll tell Rainey to render you a final bill.” Jonelle turned to her computer and pulled up Sophia’s form. She turned back to her client, eyebrows raised.

  “I don’t know why you have to be so difficult,” Sophia said. She opened her handbag, took out a tissue and dabbed her nose. The affected gesture irked Jonelle and she took a deep, impatient breath.
r />   “The only way I get information which may lead to finding answers to what happened is to ask questions. Of everybody that may even have the slightest bearing on the case. I asked you about Rosemary because she hinted that you and Susanna got closer after her divorce. She said she didn’t know how much—if anything—you knew about what Susanna had planned, so I had to ask.” Jonelle paused, waiting for Sophia’s reaction.

  Sophia wadded the tissue and looked around for someplace to deposit it. Jonelle reached down and held the trashcan out to her. “Thanks,” she said. She threw the tissue in the can.

  After she replaced the wastebasket, Jonelle leaned back in her chair and waited for Sophia to say more. She didn’t have to wait long.

  “Look. Susanna and I got much closer after I left to go to college. For some reason I can’t really explain, our relationship was a little rocky in high school.”

  “Did it have anything to do with drugs? Someone told me you two used to sell drugs in different parts of the town.”

  Sophia’s eyes widened in shock.

  “Who told you that?”

  Jonelle shrugged. “The who isn’t important. Is it true?”

  Sophia nodded. “That whole episode was just teenage rebellion stuff. Once we discovered how dangerous dealing was, we stopped. It wasn’t worth our lives. Most of the people who bought were Indians—I mean Native Americans. They have a problem with drugs you know.”

  So do whites, blacks, Asians and every other group on the planet, Jonelle surmised. She let the drug issue go.

  “I was also told—and I can’t tell you who told me—that when it came to spousal abuse, that Susanna sometimes slapped her husband around. Do you know if that’s true?”

  A crooked smile played on Sophia’s lips. “You did learn a lot in those few days, I see. Neither me nor my sister take crap from anyone.”

  The hardness in Sophia’s voice wasn’t lost on Jonelle. “So, she was capable of violence. Is that right?”

  “If necessary.” Sophia held Jonelle’s gaze.

  One of the things Jonelle learned from her uncle was that to get at the answers you needed, sometimes you had to ask the unexpected questions. “So tell me. How well do you get along with your husband?”

  Sophia seemed taken aback. “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Just curious. Especially considering what you just said about not taking any ‘crap’.”

  “My husband and I have a great relationship.”

  Sophia placed her right hand over her left. Jonelle had already noted the absence of a ring.

  Jonelle waited for more information and when none was forthcoming, decided to stay on this theme. “Do you have any children?”

  A head shake.

  “What’s your husband’s profession?”

  Sophia shifted in her chair and turned her gaze to the office window. Jonelle waited.

  “If you must know, Martin is a lawyer.” Again, Sophia seemed reluctant to divulge any more information than she had to. Jonelle glanced at the clock. She didn’t have to be anywhere anytime soon.

  “Private practice or does he work for a firm?”

  “He’s employed by the local utility. Look, I don’t see what this has to do with Susanna.”

  Jonelle glanced once more at Sophia’s left hand.

  “Why no ring?”

  Sophia continued covering her left hand with her right.

  “I don’t like to travel with my expensive jewelry. Especially when I’m in a place like this.”

  Yet, the first time we met you had on an expensive looking necklace, Jonelle thought.

  “You know, I assumed you’re staying here by yourself, but just to be sure, is your husband with you?”

  Another head shake.

  A quick check of the computer screen revealed the hotel where Sophia was staying. Right on the pricey Inner Harbor.

  “How long are you staying in Baltimore? I could always keep you informed about the status of your case if you needed to return to Michigan.”

  “As long as it takes. The police won’t release my sister’s body while they still consider her evidence. I’m not sure I like the way you do things down here. I get the feeling that they’re not telling me everything they know.”

  If you only knew the half of it, Jonelle thought. Before she could pivot off this line of questioning and back to the task at hand, Sophia beat her to it.

  “Tell me about the … uh … homeless person. He found Susanna and I understand he’s not even in custody.”

  “He had nothing to do with your sister’s death,” Jonelle said. “He tried to help her when he found her wandering on the street, so—”

  “I don’t care about that,” Sophia interrupted. “He must have found the money by now.” Her eyes narrowed. “I also heard you’re supposed to be a friend of his. Do you think he’d tell you what happened to the money?”

  Jonelle shifted her weight in the chair.

  “Luther told me that Susanna claimed she had a lot of money and needed his help hiding it,” Jonelle said, feeling as if she’d just betrayed a good friend even though she and the homeless man were not on that level. “He doesn’t know where it is.”

  Sophia sat up. “So he claims he hasn’t found it yet? And you believe him?” The look on Sophia’s face showed she wasn’t impressed with Jonelle’s investigative skills.

  Jonelle held both hands up, palms out. “Now just hold on. She was killed before she told him.”

  A coldness appeared in Sophia’s eyes. “I bet he found it and is waiting until things settle before he grabs the money for himself.”

  Jonelle shook her head. “I doubt that. Why all the concern about the money? When it’s found, it’ll go back to Michigan. Listen, Luther really cared for your sister. He was devastated when she was killed.”

  Sophia’s eyes softened a little.

  “My guess is that the money’s still hidden somewhere. Maybe she opened a bank account and its sitting in there for all we know.” Jonelle remembered the code written on the piece of paper. “The police are looking at every angle.”

  In a flat voice Sophia said, “It’s not in a bank.”

  Now it was Jonelle’s turn to be skeptical. “How do you know that?”

  “You can’t open a bank account without a fixed address.”

  “True. But if she contacted her ex, she could use his address,” Jonelle said, thinking out loud. “Although, to deposit that amount of money you’d have to have ID. The police are checking all the banks and so far, nothing.”

  Although sparring with clients was not Jonelle’s favorite thing to do, it did open up several avenues that she hadn’t thought of before. Why did Sophia seem more interested in retrieving the money than Finkleberg? Surely the woman knew the money, if found, had to be returned to the county. And why should she care?

  “One of the things Rosemary said that I found curious was that Susanna was supposed to send her the rest of the money she promised her. What I can’t figure out is why? Why not just give the woman everything upfront? They could go their separate ways and not bother with each other again. Rosemary said Susanna had planned to screw her all along. Does that sound like your sister?” It occurred to Jonelle that Susanna would probably do the same thing to Luther.

  Sophia looked at her hands. “Maybe she wasn’t one hundred percent sure she could trust her. By keeping some of the money in reserve, so to speak, that meant the little secretary would keep her end of the bargain. I know Susanna shouldn’t have done what she did, but that’s irrelevant at this point.”

  “That ‘little secretary’ has a child.”

  “Some half-breed I heard.”

  “That make a difference to you?”

  Sophia shrugged.

  Let it go, Jonelle. “Your mother told me you were all well off. Your father had a lot of money and made sure the three of you would be well taken care of. Plus, your mother said that when she passed away, you two would share her estate. So, why take th
e money in the first place?”

  Sophia rubbed her temples. “I can’t answer that,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. She stared into the distance. “Maybe it was the thrill of doing something dangerous.”

  The cloying fragrance of Sophia’s flowery-scented perfume started the beginnings of a headache, just behind Jonelle’s right ear. By her own reckoning she had about ten more minutes before the mild ache turned into a full-blown migraine.

  “Tell me about the last conversation you had with Susanna. When was it? How did she sound? What did you two talk about?”

  A deep sigh escaped Sophia’s lips. “It was six months or so ago. I knew she was still bummed that her marriage didn’t work out, even though she wasn’t happy when she and Barry were together. She admitted she was depressed. She felt stifled in that small, one-horse town. She claimed there wasn’t much to stimulate her … intellectual or otherwise.” Sophia chuckled. “That’s my sister for you. Always wanting something more. Something better.”

  “She could’ve moved. She had the means to do so. She didn’t have to steal money from the town where she grew up.” Jonelle didn’t care for Sophia’s cavalier attitude about the whole situation.

  Sophia’s eyes formed into slits. “Maybe,” she said.

  “Besides feeling trapped in Oldenberry, any other indication she was about to do something drastic?”

  Sophia looked down at the bag sitting in her lap. “No. Not that I recall.”

  Jonelle didn’t believe her. “What about your mother?”

  Sophia looked up sharply. “What about her? She has nothing to do with this.”

  “I realize that. But your mother isn’t well. Wouldn’t Susanna care what this would do to her health? Your mother’s still living in that town and has to face the people there knowing what her daughter did to all of them.”

  For the first time since she sat down across from Jonelle, Sophia looked sad. “That’s the worst part of all this.”

  CHAPTER 20

  After a somewhat stressful conversation with Sophia Reyes, all Jonelle wanted to do when she got home was make a quick dinner, take a long bath and curl up with a good book. Instead, she loaded her backpack with junk food and water, took a hot shower, watched a few hours of mindless TV, and went to her surveillance job. The one encouraging part of the day was the call from Barrington Kelly who agreed to meet with her tomorrow in his office. To help pass the time, Jonelle planned on going over the questions she wanted to ask him about Susanna. And Sophia.